JEMS is pleased to release another previously uncirculated recording of an historically significant and otherwise unheard show.

This time we're transported to the Tower Theater in Philadelphia for a performance that bridges Springsteen's past and future in late 1974. For starters, it is the first Philly show with Max Weinberg on drums and Roy Bittan on piano, and the "new" band sounds considerably more polished than they did at Kean College six weeks earlier. The set marks the last 1974 performance of "Then She Kissed Me" and more notably the last known recording of the lovely "Spanish Harlem." The Ben E. King cover appears to have made way for another cover song featuring Suki Lahav on violin, Dylan's "I Want You," which is believed to have debuted the next night and sticks around through February. But "Spanish Harlem" is a true lost gem and the performance here is majestic. As Brucebase notes, parts of the arrangement bear an uncanny resemblance to "Wreck on the Highway" six years later.

"Born to Run" also returns to the set for its first known appearance since August and two days later, Bruce would play the studio version for Ed Sciaky's listeners on WMMR. This is one of but a handful of recorded performances of the song from '74. Also previewed from Bruce's next album are embryonic versions of "She's the One" (complete with the explanatory Bo Diddley beat intro) and "Jungleland." Both feature myriad lyric changes from their eventual released versions and "Jungleland" benefits marvelously from Lahav's contributions. The night closes with another song recorded for (but not released on) Born to Run, "A Love So Fine."

Our new friend The Big A recored this one on, as he calls it, "a standard-for-the-time, no-frills, fat-paperback-sized Radio Shack-type tape recorder with a built-in mike." Unlike Kean (which was recorded on a single 180 minute tape), the Tower was recorded on two tapes (a 120 and a 60) and the sound quality, while not excellent, is superior to Kean and quite listenable. The 120 minute tape ends during "New York City Serenade," which picks up again on the 60 minute tape, but for whatever reason (two different tape brands/formulations), the sound changes noticeably on the second tape. In mastering, we've attempted to match the sound of the second tape to the first.

The tapes themselves were in remarkably good shape considering their age, and as we often do in these situations, we re-shelled them (i.e. we cracked the original tape shells, took out the tape itself and put the old reels into newer cassette shells that run smoother) to optimize playback. There's a bit of brittleness in the high end, especially in louder passages, but we've done our best to manage that and get the most out of the source. Samples provided.

The best news of course is that this is a show you haven't heard before from such a fascinating period in Springsteen's career, when you could get "Jungleland" into "Kitty's Back" into "New York City Serenade." Hearing the early Born to Run songs is also a treat, as are the cover songs.

Special thanks to The Big A for loaning JEMS his master tapes. We continue to be amazed by what tapes are still waiting to be found and we're happy to report there are more discoveries still to come.

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comments:

Thanks. This is a real nice surprise. Always love to hear shows from back in the early days. Vocals are back a bit, but the instruments sound nice and "crisp" for the most part. Where has this tape been for all these years?!?